Madhu Knits and Cooks

Roasted Green Beans - Great Weeknight Vegetable Preparation

I'm not sure what inspired me to make this simple roasted vegetable recipe, but whatever it was, I was incredibly pleased with the result.  Salted and crisp green beans and red bell peppers that required almost no work.  Yum!

I didn't really follow any measurements for this 22-minute oven roasting approach, just tossed a bit of olive oil and kosher salt with the green beans and bell pepper slices before putting them in a 450-degree oven.  

I tossed them once halfway through cooking, and then served immediately.  I was surprised by how crisp the vegetables ended up via this method, and how much the natural flavor of the green beans and bell peppers came through.  I wasn't just eating overcooked vegetables, rather felt like a better version of both vegetables.  Heat really worked wonders!  I look forward to making this simple side again and again!

Indian Cabbage in the Instant Pot - Dish Better Prepared in a Sauce Pan

With my Indian Instant Pot recipes on a pretty good roll, thanks to the Two Sleevers cookbook, I decided to give one of my simplest recipes - a stir-fried Indian cabbage - the Instant Pot treatment.

Unfortunately though, the result was a bit of a watery mess (see pool of water below), and resulted in a more mushy cabbage than I prefer.  This cabbage preparation also required a ton of salt to provide any sort of flavor, so I think Indian cabbage cooking is best suited for outside the Pot.

The recipe though is of course quite easy to prepare - saute the spices before adding the cabbage and then the frozen peas.  Total hands-on cooking time is maybe 5 minutes total.

King Arthur Flour's No Knead Bread - Another Great Bread Recipe

Could there be an even better version of my favorite bread recipe?  Thanks to King Arthur Flour, the answer is yes!  The KAF No-Knead White Crusty Bread recipe draws from my recent favorite Simple Crusty Bread approach, and provides more detailed guidance to result in a perfectly baked loaf.

The more detailed KAF guidance provides both weight measurement guidance that I followed as well as details on how to substitute a dutch oven for the baking itself.  I also followed related guidance to keep my standard inclusion of rye flour to only 20% of the overall flour weight as to not depress the bread rise too much.

(hello scale, I love you!)

By following the weight guidance instead of the volume measurements, I ended up with a much thicker and dense dough than my usual no knead doughs, which are quite loose and shaggy.

Like my preparation of the original recipe, I did half the amount of dough I made to ultimately produce two loaves instead of four.

I baked the loaf in a 7 1/4 quart dutch oven, pre-heated in a 450 degree oven (480 in our new, not-quite-calibrated oven).  I baked the bread for 28 minutes in the covered dutch oven, and then an additional 8 minutes with the cover off.

The result, when cooled, was great - full of decent holes, great crust, and a much better rise than when you bake on a pizza stone.  I'll be making this again!

Instant Pot Chana Masala - My First Two Sleevers Recipe!

Several month ago, a friend raved about the Instant Pot recipes that he and his wife had been trying from the Two Sleevers blog.  Hearing my friend's voice in my head during a browse on the Queens Library website, I decided to order the Indian cookbook authored by Two Sleevers blogger Urvashi Pitre.

The first recipe I made from the cookbook - Chana Masala - was fantastic, even though I made a number of modifications to fit my even lazier cooking schedule than the easy-to-follow recipe allowed.

First, I ended up cooking the chickpeas a few days before I made the chana masala because the day I pre-soaked the chickpeas, I was just too tired at night to put together the full recipe.

Second, instead of pre-making the onion masala, I concocted my own fake onion masala (just sauteing the onion, tomato, etc. in the Instant Pot immediately before adding the cooked chickpeas).  It seemed to work completely fine for the end result, so I think I will keep doing this moving forward.

Because I omitted the Instant Pot-made onion masala, I didn't really need to use the Two Sleevers recipe because the Instant Pot was only critical for cooking the chickpeas.  I do think I will continue follow this recipe though because the inclusion of pre-made chana masala powder really brought the dish together.  I had never thought of using store-bought until reading Pitre's strong guidance that the ready-made blend was close-enough to the real thing to offset making your own.   

So the pre-made spice blend and Two Sleevers approach have won the chana masala recipe war!  This will be my go-to moving forward.

Zahav's Dense Hummus - A Restaurant Sensation that Wasn't to My Liking

Although I have a go-to hummus recipe that I will go to battle for, my wandering eye was intrigued by the version published by the Zahav owner.  Zahav is the Philadelphia Israeli hot spot, which I have yet to get into (granted, I tried only once, and on a summer Saturday night at that).  

The recipe was not only intriguing because of its creator, but also because it was more stripped down that most hummus recipes I have tried. No chickpea cooking water or olive oil included, just chickpeas, tahini and lemon. And with my Instant Pot revolutionizing my bean cooking at home, I had no hesitation in trying out this new approach.

As the pre-soaked chickpeas cooked in the Instant Pot (12 minutes on high pressure), I quickly put together the seasoning ingredients.  I quartered the recipe, but probably include a bit more lemon juice.

The resulting hummus was thick, and had a very strong and rich tahini flavor.  I think it would be a good side to either a bland or perhaps tart main course, but on its own, I found the flavor too overwhelming with my standard dip accompaniments. 

I will probably catalogue this recipe in the "at least I tried it category" and stick to my standard recipe moving forward.

Improved Pearl Barley Risotto - Fantastic Spring or Winter Meal

Having some leftover pearl barley from two recent Ottelenghi recipes, I wanted to use up the remainder before an upcoming move.  It seems like the most popular approach these days, per the internet, is pearl barley risotto, but unfortunately the recipes I found all were a bit more complicated than what I wanted to invest in - particularly with a move coming up.

I ultimately decided to improve a recipe, and I could not have been happier with the result.  The risotto had a bright herb flavor, and the consistency was substantive and creamy.  I also really liked the pearl barley as the main ingredient as it resulted in a vegetarian risotto that felt like a true main course, instead of the arborio rice versions which always strike me as side dishes.

Needless to say, this will be a recipe repeat.  Current recipe below - I will post any updates or modifications as I make them!

Pearl Barley Risotto

Ingredients

• 1.5 tbsp. olive oil 
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup pearl barley, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup frozen green peas, defrosted
• 1/3 cup parsley, minced
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• parmesan shavings (optional), salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• In a medium pot, heat olive oil on medium-high heat.  When hot, add onion and celery and saute for 5 - 6 minutes or until soft.

• Add garlic and stir for another 30 seconds.  Stir in the pearl barley and saute fairly continuously for 3 - 4 minutes to toast.

• Add the vegetable broth, and bring mixture to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, and cook until liquid is almost completely absorbed by the barley.  When that happens, add the remaining one cup of water and cook until partly absorbed.

• Stir in the peas, parsley, and lemon juice and cook until liquid is almost completely absorbed and barley dish appears creamy. 

• Add parmesan, salt and pepper to taste and serve while warm.

A Winning Rye Bread - Modifying Another Favorite Recipe

After a few attempts of trying to perfect a rye version of the famed Jim Lahey No Knead Bread recipe, I ended up switching to an entirely new recipe (albeit another favorite).  That recipe - Simple Crusty Bread by Jeff Hertzberg - has been a perfect compliment to rye flour, and I've made the recipe several times over the summer.

To make this bread, I've halved the recipe and included approx. 1/2 cup of rye flour to 2 3/4 cup of AP flour (I may increase the rye moving forward, but the rye flavor still comes through at this ratio).  Baking the bread for the full baking time (30 - 31 minutes) seems key as I initially was baking it for 27 - 28 minutes, which led to a slightly softer crust as the bread cooled.  

Another important tip is to try to let this bread cool as much as possible to "sweat out" the internal moisture and not make the crust / interior too soggy while cutting into it while warm. 

This can be hard to do when the bread smells so wonderfully delicious out of the oven, but letting it cool for a few hours definitely seems key to get that nice firm crust coupled with a soft interior.  This is definitely a new MadhuKnitsandCooks favorite that will take me through the seasons!

The Easiest and Most Delicious Weeknight Black Beans

When my husband and I recently gorged ourselves on Tex-Mex throughout Austin and San Antonio, my husband remarked that he wasn't sure if black beans could ever be that good if they were truly vegetarian. 

Taking that as a challenge, and with lots of delicious vegetarian Tex-Mex meals on my mind, when we returned home, I decided to perfect cooking dried black beans as I figured that it's easier to infuse flavor into cooking black beans from dry than cooking them from a can.

Surprisingly enough, by looking at some cookbooks and online Instant Pot websites, I quickly perfected a fantastic recipe.  The beans are well-seasoned, flavorful, and soft - even if not soaked beforehand.

The only thing that I've had to play with over the past four attempts at this recipe is the Instant Pot high pressure cooking time.  I initially cooked these beans at 22 minutes, but then had to cook the beans for another 3 - 5 minutes to get them to be evenly soft. 

I think moving forward 28 minutes is the right amount of time - but I'll report back if that changes in practice!

Instant Pot Weeknight Black Beans

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dried black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 small onion, halved (red, white, or yellow - it doesn't matter)
• 1/4 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup water
• salt to taste, perhaps start with 1/2 tsp.

Directions

• Put all ingredients in Instant Pot.  No need to stir.

• Set to manual, high pressure for 28 minutes.  Keep on sealed option.
• Allow for natural release (approx. 22 minutes of keeping Instant Pot on warm after cooking), release to "vent" and taste beans for consistently.  Cook for 1 - 2 minutes further if beans are not to your desired consistency.

No Knead Rye Bread - Nearing in a Winner

Every novice bread baker is familiar - and dare I say - in love with Jim Lahey's excellent No Knead Bread recipe.  In fact, I believe that the No Knead Bread recipe may be the most visited NY Times Cooking page to date?

I have also been a fan of this recipe, and received great results, though I haven't made it for a few years in favor of pizza dough or other bread recipes.  I decided to restart my Jim Lahey affair though after trying a great rye bread at a party a few months ago.  I wondered how the host achieved such a delicious bread, and the response was not what I expected - she used the Jim Lahey recipe!

A few months later, after having this delicious party rye bread flavor and texture settle into my mind, I decided to order some King Arthur Flour Rye flour and restart my bread baking efforts.

My first two attempts at incorporating rye flour into this recipe per Cathy Barrow were a bit stumbling, all due to user error - though the resulting bread still tasted great.

On my first bread attempt, I used active dry yeast instead of instant / rapid rise yeast.  Not realizing that deviation from the recipe, I didn't proof the active dry yeast before adding the dry ingredients.  After several hours of rising, the bread dough was certainly bubbly, but it hadn't doubled in size.  Realizing my error, I then decided to mix in some rapid rise yeast and let the dough continue to rise (thank you Leaf TV for that tip!).  

While this step certainly helped a lot, it still resulted in a somewhat flatter loaf, but lesson learned.  The second time I made this bread, I used rapid rise yeast from the outset which resulted in a fluffier loaf.

The other flaw I made the first time making this bread was to follow the recipe directions to do a second rise of the loaf on a well-floured towel.  That resulted in both a lot of sticking and messiness with both the second rise and then trying to get it into the pot, and I still haven't been able to get my kitchen towel fully clean since then.  

The second time , I followed the Cook's Illustrated approach of placing the bread on parchment for the second rise and just putting the parchment in with the bread to bake, which worked out much easier.

The resulting bread from my two attempts looked like:

(Rye Bread attempt #1)

A few additional lessons learned that I need to correct for: 

1) The first time I baked the bread, my oven heated well past my desired temp (even though I have an internal oven thermometer, the oven gets less reliable at 400 degree+ temperatures).  So we had to scrape off some of the burnt bread bits at the bottom of the loaf before eating.  The second time, I put the oven at a lower temperature but didn't pre-heat the pot enough (I think) at only 35 minutes.  I think an hour is definitely needed in the pre-heating oven, otherwise our second loaf seemed a bit undercooked at the bottom. 

2) I think our dutch oven (largest Le Creuset size) may also be too large to bake the bread, resulting in a longer, flatter loaf than if we used a smaller dutch oven (I read that 5-quart is best for this recipe).  I have been thinking about buying a smaller dutch oven anyways, so will try to do this next in a smaller pot.  Will report back if that makes a difference to make a taller loaf!

Basic Instant Pot Pinto Beans - A Work in Progress

I never cooked dried pinto beans until the fantastic Cook's Illustrated Drunken Beans recipe.  Wowsa, that's a great approach that develops a really flavorful and interesting pot of beans.

However, it's not quite a simple recipe as it requires a lot of different ingredients (including two types of alcohol!) and a number of steps to get those oh-so-perfect beans.

Given that my time is sadly finite, as is my cupboard, I decided to experiment with a simpler Instant Pot dried pinto bean recipe.  While this approach wasn't quite that great (resulted in overcooked, bland beans), it's definitely a start to making a simpler pot of beans.

To begin this improvised approach, I soaked 1 cup of beans overnight and then cooked the beans with 1/2 white onion (left halved), 2 peeled garlic cloves, a few cilantro sprigs, and 2 bay leaves. 

I supplemented the above with approx. 2 cups of water and omitted salt for the cooking because I had remembered reading that cooking beans with salt can make them too hard.  However, on a recent Milk Street Radio podcast with Chris Kimball and Sara Moulton, I learned that this is an old wives tale!  So in the future, I'll add the salt to the outset of cooking (if not also soaking the beans with salt as well).

I set the timer to 25 minutes on manual / high pressure and let the pot depressurize naturally.

Unfortunately, this is where the problems started.  Pressure cookers do not need nearly the amount of water as standard stove-top cooking and I learned this lesson yet again the hard way.  Way too much water in the pot, such that sauteing it down wasn't going to be sufficient.  So I scooped out some of the extra water (which probably had a decent amount of flavor in it) and threw it down the sink.

I also learned that 25 minutes was WAY too long for pre-soaked pinto beans.  I think I should half the time next time to not get horribly mushy beans.

The beans were also incredibly bland.  So lots of salt next time, and maybe that many more herbs as well. Will report back as I continue to refine this "simple" pinto bean approach!